SFDK | Survival Guide - Maximize your Time during Peak Crowd

PLEASE NOTE: this “survival guide” is focused on getting you on the most rides and coasters
possible during peak crowds. We have left out watching animals and shows in favor of riding the
park’s most popular attractions with minimal waits. We recommend saving the animals and
shows for the middle of the day when crowds reach their highest. Our goal is for you to have a
fun and memorable day at the park, filled with plenty of thrills and less time waiting in line.

Pack Minimalistic
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (like other Six Flags properties) prohibit guests from bring loose articles onto the station platforms for many of the popular attractions and strictly enforce the use of lockers (conveniently placed at ride entrances). These lockers are single-use and are $1 for 2 hours. If you open the locker prior to, the locker is expired. We found that you can minimize the feeling of feeling bound to a certain area by bringing the bare essentials: phone, wallet, hat, sunglasses, and of course a small bottle of sunscreen. Wearing cargo pants/shorts is a wise move as you can secure your items and not have to worry about them flying out on certain rides like Joker or Superman Ultimate Flight. Souvenir cups can be brought onto the station platform and the park provides cup holders for them.

We'd like to add that if you had the urge mid day to buy one of the many unique souvenirs the park has to offer, the park can hold onto those fragile goods for you while you explore the park. Just don't forget that before you leave to pick up your goods.

Early Arrival
Enter the park and walk straight ahead to the “central hub,” which is easy to find (just look for
the dolphin fountain). Turn left at the fountain and a small crowd will be waiting for the rope
to drop. As soon as the rope drops, walk (briskly if you can, don’t run!) toward the southeast corner of the park which houses 3 major coasters: Superman: Ultimate Flight, The Joker, and V2: Vertical Velocity.

Running of the Bulls (please don't run!)
Try to make Superman the first ride of your trip. As one of the park’s star attractions, and due to its unfortunately low capacity (only one train with 12 seats), lines build quickly and stay long throughout the entire day.

Upon exiting Superman, you will find that its exit is conveniently located next to the entrance ofthe park’s newest and most maniacal coaster: The Joker. The line for Joker moves fairly quickly so don’t be intimidated by a seemingly long queue. Next up, take a quick trip on V2. This coaster is slightly less popular than the two “headliners” nearby and doesn’t develop much of a line until later in the day. Enjoy the short queue while you can!

After 3 intense coasters in a row, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed or even lightheaded! If so, take some time and pace yourself. Drink water and get a snack if you need to. If you are still feeling okay, then take a walk to your next destination on the opposite end of the park.

Continuing your adventure
We recommend your next ride to be Boomerang: Coast to Coaster. Located in the back corner of
the park, it takes guests much longer to reach this area. You can usually enjoy Boomerang with a wait of 10 minutes or less before 12:30 PM. If you enjoy flat rides, The Ark (swinging boat ride) and Scat About (a typical “Scrambler” ride) are also located in this plaza and you can enjoy them with little to no wait during this time. Be aware that Boomerang receives a major influx of guests after showings of the nearby Odin’s Temple of the Tiger and the line stays long the rest of the day, so be sure to ride this one early.

If you like spinning rides, then this is a good time to enjoy Tasmanian Devil, a swinging, spinning pendulum sure to get you dizzy. It’s a very fun ride, but it loads rather slowly and waits can get long in the early to mid-afternoon. Be sure to ride this one BEFORE you eat, so you don’t revisit your lunch.

Hungry?
Speaking of lunch, you may be feeling pretty hungry after all these rides! Take time to eat! Having a full meal and staying hydrated are important parts of making sure your energy stays up and help minimize motion sickness/heat exhaustion. Feel free to eat even earlier if you wish to do so.

Wrapping things up
The last section of thrill rides in the park is Oasis Plaza. Located closest to the park entrance, these popular attractions will have developed sizeable lines by early afternoon. We recommend riding Medusa first, even if the queue seems long. It runs two trains, each holding 32 riders so the line moves rather briskly.

Also located in Oasis Plaza is the family coaster Cobra. Don’t be deceived by its small size! This little coaster actually packs a decent punch and is quite fun! Cobra’s train is very unique is it appears to look like a giant snake. This giant snake has a high capacity and fits up 40 riders per cycle (assuming riders do 2 riders per row). Even with a full queue the wait rarely exceeds 30 minutes.

If you intend to ride the remaining three rides in Oasis Plaza: Kong, Daredevil Dive Coaster, and Skyscreamer, then pack your patience! These are slow loading attractions and their lines tend to move at a snail’s pace. If you find that these queues are exceedingly long then we recommend checking back in the late afternoon/early evening when crowds have begun to die down.

Summer Heat
Is it a hot day? Do you like to get wet? Six Flags has got you covered with three water rides guaranteed to get you super soaked! You can take a giant plunge in a boat down Monsoon Falls, enjoy the rafting adventure of Whitewater Safari, or take part in a massive water fight on The Penguin.

Be aware that on hot days, these lines get painfully long. We recommend riding these early in the day or in the early evening as the heat and sun go down a bit.

To sum this park up, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has a lineup of some pretty amazing coasters! Our main tips to remember are arrive early, ride the low-capacity rides first, and save the animals for the middle of the day when the majority of guests are in line for the rides that you already experienced earlier! Have a Six Flags day!